Parallel Bible results for "deuteronomy 4"

Deuteronomy 4

English Standard Version ESV

1 "And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.

2 You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you.

3 Your eyes have seen what the LORD did at Baal-peor, for the LORD your God destroyed from among you all the men who followed the Baal of Peor.

4 But you who held fast to the LORD your God are all alive today.

5 See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.

6 Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.'

7 For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is to us, whenever we call upon him?

8 And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today?

9 "Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children's children--

10 how on the day that you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, the LORD said to me, 'Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.'

11 And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom.

12 Then the LORD spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but saw no form; there was only a voice.

13 And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments,and he wrote them on two tablets of stone.

14 And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and rules, that you might do them in the land that you are going over to possess.

15 "Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since you saw no form on the day that the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire,

16 beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

17 the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air,

18 the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth.

19 And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.

20 But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day.

21 Furthermore, the LORD was angry with me because of you, and he swore that I should not cross the Jordan, and that I should not enter the good land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance.

22 For I must die in this land; I must not go over the Jordan. But you shall go over and take possession of that good land.

23 Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make a carved image, the form of anything that the LORD your God has forbidden you.

24 For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

25 "When you father children and children's children, and have grown old in the land, if you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and by doing what is evil in the sight of the LORD your God, so as to provoke him to anger,

26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed.

27 And the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will drive you.

28 And there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.

29 But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.

30 When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the LORD your God and obey his voice.

31 For the LORD your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them.

32 "For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of.

33 Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live?

34 Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

35 To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides him.

36 Out of heaven he let you hear his voice, that he might discipline you. And on earth he let you see his great fire, and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire.

37 And because he loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them and brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power,

38 driving out before you nations greater and mightier than yourselves, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day,

39 know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.

40 Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for all time."

41 Then Moses set apart three cities in the east beyond the Jordan,

42 that the manslayer might flee there, anyone who kills his neighbor unintentionally, without being at enmity with him in time past; he may flee to one of these cities and save his life:

43 Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland for the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.

44 This is the law that Moses set before the people of Israel.

45 These are the testimonies, the statutes, and the rules, which Moses spoke to the people of Israel when they came out of Egypt,

46 beyond the Jordan in the valley opposite Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the people of Israel defeated when they came out of Egypt.

47 And they took possession of his land and the land of Og, the king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who lived to the east beyond the Jordan;

48 from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, as far as Mount Sirion (that is, Hermon),

49 together with all the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan as far as the Sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah.

The Message Bible MSG

1 Now listen, Israel, listen carefully to the rules and regulations that I am teaching you to follow so that you may live and enter and take possession of the land that God, the God-of-Your-Fathers, is giving to you.

2 Don't add a word to what I command you, and don't remove a word from it. Keep the commands of God, your God, that I am commanding you.

3 You saw with your own eyes what God did at Baal Peor, how God destroyed from among you every man who joined in the Baal Peor orgies.

4 But you, the ones who held tight to God, your God, are alive and well, every one of you, today.

5 Pay attention: I'm teaching you the rules and regulations that God commanded me, so that you may live by them in the land you are entering to take up ownership.

6 Keep them. Practice them. You'll become wise and understanding. When people hear and see what's going on, they'll say, "What a great nation! So wise, so understanding! We've never seen anything like it."

7 Yes. What other great nation has gods that are intimate with them the way God, our God, is with us, always ready to listen to us?

8 And what other great nation has rules and regulations as good and fair as this Revelation that I'm setting before you today?

9 Just make sure you stay alert. Keep close watch over yourselves. Don't forget anything of what you've seen. Don't let your heart wander off. Stay vigilant as long as you live. Teach what you've seen and heard to your children and grandchildren.

10 That day when you stood before God, your God, at Horeb, God said to me, "Assemble the people in my presence to listen to my words so that they will learn to fear me in holy fear for as long as they live on the land, and then they will teach these same words to their children."

11 You gathered. You stood in the shadow of the mountain. The mountain was ablaze with fire, blazing high into the very heart of Heaven. You stood in deep darkness and thick clouds.

12 God spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but you saw nothing - no form, only a voice.

13 He announced his covenant, the Ten Words, by which he commanded you to live. Then he wrote them down on two slabs of stone.

14 And God commanded me at that time to teach you the rules and regulations that you are to live by in the land which you are crossing over the Jordan to possess.

15 You saw no form on the day God spoke to you at Horeb from out of the fire. Remember that. Carefully guard yourselves

16 so that you don't turn corrupt and make a form, carving a figure

17 that looks male or female, or looks like a prowling animal or a flying bird

18 or a slithering snake or a fish in a stream.

19 And also carefully guard yourselves so that you don't look up into the skies and see the sun and moon and stars, all the constellations of the skies, and be seduced into worshiping and serving them. God set them out for everybody's benefit, everywhere.

20 But you - God took you right out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to become the people of his inheritance - and that's what you are this very day.

21 But God was angry with me because of you and the things you said. He swore that I'd never cross the Jordan, never get to enter the good land that God, your God, is giving you as an inheritance.

22 This means that I am going to die here. I'm not crossing the Jordan. But you will cross; you'll possess the good land.

23 So stay alert. Don't for a minute forget the covenant which God, your God, made with you. And don't take up with any carved images, no forms of any kind - God, your God, issued clear commands on that.

24 God, your God, is not to be trifled with - he's a consuming fire, a jealous God.

25 When the time comes that you have children and grandchildren, put on years, and start taking things for granted, if you then become corrupt and make any carved images, no matter what their form, by doing what is sheer evil in God's eyes and provoking his anger -

26 I can tell you right now, with Heaven and Earth as witnesses, that it will be all over for you. You'll be kicked off the land that you're about to cross over the Jordan to possess. Believe me, you'll have a very short stay there. You'll be ruined, completely ruined.

27 God will scatter you far and wide; a few of you will survive here and there in the nations where God will drive you.

28 There you can worship your homemade gods to your hearts' content, your wonderful gods of wood and stone that can't see or hear or eat or smell.

29 But even there, if you seek God, your God, you'll be able to find him if you're serious, looking for him with your whole heart and soul.

30 When troubles come and all these awful things happen to you, in future days you will come back to God, your God, and listen obediently to what he says.

31 God, your God, is above all a compassionate God. In the end he will not abandon you, he won't bring you to ruin, he won't forget the covenant with your ancestors which he swore to them.

32 Ask questions. Find out what has been going on all these years before you were born. From the day God created man and woman on this Earth, and from the horizon in the east to the horizon in the west - as far back as you can imagine and as far away as you can imagine - has as great a thing as this ever happened? Has anyone ever heard of such a thing?

33 Has a people ever heard, as you did, a god speaking out of the middle of the fire and lived to tell the story?

34 Or has a god ever tried to select for himself a nation from within a nation using trials, miracles, and war, putting his strong hand in, reaching his long arm out, a spectacle awesome and staggering, the way God, your God, did it for you in Egypt while you stood right there and watched?

35 You were shown all this so that you would know that God is, well, God. He's the only God there is. He's it.

36 He made it possible for you to hear his voice out of Heaven to discipline you. Down on Earth, he showed you the big fire and again you heard his words, this time out of the fire.

37 He loved your ancestors and chose to work with their children. He personally and powerfully brought you out of Egypt

38 in order to displace bigger and stronger and older nations with you, bringing you out and turning their land over to you as an inheritance. And now it's happening. This very day.

39 Know this well, then. Take it to heart right now: God is in Heaven above; God is on Earth below. He's the only God there is.

40 Obediently live by his rules and commands which I'm giving you today so that you'll live well and your children after you - oh, you'll live a long time in the land that God, your God, is giving you.

41 Then Moses set aside three towns in the country on the east side of the Jordan

42 to which someone who had unintentionally killed a person could flee and find refuge. If the murder was unintentional and there was no history of bad blood, the murderer could flee to one of these cities and save his life:

43 Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland for the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.

44 This is the Revelation that Moses presented to the People of Israel.

45 These are the testimonies, the rules and regulations Moses spoke to the People of Israel after their exodus from Egypt

46 and arrival on the east side of the Jordan in the valley near Beth Peor. It was the country of Sihon king of the Amorites who ruled from Heshbon. Moses and the People of Israel fought and beat him after they left Egypt

47 and took his land. They also took the land of Og king of Bashan. The two Amorite kings held the country on the east of the Jordan

48 from Aroer on the bank of the Brook Arnon as far north as Mount Siyon, that is, Mount Hermon,

49 all the Arabah plain east of the Jordan, and as far south as the Sea of the Arabah (the Dead Sea) beneath the slopes of Mount Pisgah.